Tire conundrum

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Fishthatkills

Fishthatkills

Fish that kills
Joined
May 5, 2009
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Location
Austin Texas
Howdy folks, I am sure this has been discussed before. I just bought new tires for my stock 67 Barracuda Fastback. The rears are BF Goodrich 245/60R/14's mounted on old school Cragers. Went from 225/60/R14's. They rub when I hit a good bump or dip in the road and I have a couple of options as I see it. New rear springs to get ride height back to what I think it was when new??? Just shy about a couple inches I think, longer rear shackles, or last option air shocks. Do y'all think any of these options would be best over the others? Do leaf springs really sag that much, or would they make that big a difference in curing my trouble? Rolling the inner fender area is really not on the menu at this point.

Air shocks I thnk would tear up the mounts after a while, and I would not put a bunch of pressure in them, just enough to make the clearance issue disappear!

I need y'alls input please! :banghead:

Thanks everyone!
John D. Beckerley
A.K.A Fish That Kills
Ausrin Texas
 
Yes springs will sag that much if they are the originals
New springs would be the best way to do it.
Air shocks would be a cheaper alternative and nearly as good.
And I would never use shackles the change the suspension geometry and the pinion angle most importantly. Not to get in a pissing war with anyone but that is my thoughts on shackles
 
Replace the springs. Air shocks suck for daily driving. Could roll the fender a bit?
 
Thanks for the suggestions so far! It is not a daily driver and I only put about a 1000 miles on it a year, mostly club cruises and weekend cruises in general. It's not tagged by the state for more that 1200 miles a year, Antique plates etc. I live in Texas! So that being said I think new springs would be the ultimate fix! At 217.00 per side thought expensive! Since I don't drive her all that much, would air shocks damage the mounts that badly? For 80 bucks and my own labor, it seems to be the best short term fix until I can swing springs!

Thanks y'all!
John B.
 
Leaf springs:
There are a few people just adding leafs to their existing main leaf from a dakota. I would get a few leafs off a 4x4 .

There are threads on this site about it. If you have a jack a few C clamps and a bit of time you can just do your self up some springs for cheap and adjust your height.

Your wheel backspacing is also probably your other rubbing cause. People get quite wide tires under a bodies with good backspacing setup.
 
Best option is to replace the rims. A 245/60/14 should fit that car no problem with the proper backspace.

Springs would be next, but I'd only do that if you aren't happy with the ride height of the car. If you like the car how it sits, change the rims. If its sagging too much in the back, then change the springs.

Shackles and air shocks are band-aids that will cause more problems than they solve.
 
I am having a similar problem I have 15x8's with 255/60/15 tires 4.5" offset. My rear springs are saggy and I really only will need 1 " in height to cure the rubbing. My problem is I don't know how much my springs have sagged in 40+ years. Does anyone know the distance between the axle and the frame rails on a stock 1967 Barracuda with fresh stock type springs? I can then tell if I only need stock or +1" spring like the XHD's. I just don't have the money to "experiment" with 2 different sets of springs. Right now there is about 1" between the tire and lip of the fender. I may roll the fender lip to solve this but it still leaves the saggy rear as compared to the front.
 
Find a spring shop in your area, and have them add a leaf. They will be able to set it where you want it.
 
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